On 8 May 2025 the World Lebanese Cultural Union (WLCU) of Sydney in conjunction with the WLCU Sydney Foundation Ltd, presented its Annual HSC Distinguished Achievers Awards to our Australian Lebanese youth who have achieved outstanding results in the 2024 Higher School Certificate (HSC) and International Baccalaureate as well as in their extracurricular activities, including in community service, leadership, sports and the arts.

The awards event was held in the spectacular function room at the offices of EG in Governor Phillip Tower in the heart of Sydney’s business district. It was a fun-filled evening where guests were treated to delicious Lebanese food and drink and superb music by acclaimed violinist Dominic Azzi. The formal ceremony was officiated by our well-versed MC Cedric Barakat (WLCU Sydney Youth President). Our WLCU President Dr Shane Geha addressed the guests and imparted several life wisdoms on students to take forward in their lives.

There were also some further inspirational speeches on the night, with many practical messages for students and guests alike. Mrs Tina Ayyad MP, the State Member for Holsworthy and the Shadow Assistant Minister for South-Western Sydney, Health and Youth spoke of the importance of community engagement. We also heard from one of our sponsors, Mr Joe Tannous, who spoke of the importance of education and the value of the community and how important it is to be recognised early in life. The final speech was from a former top recipient of the WLCU Sydney HSC Distinguished Achievers Award, Mr Matthew Nicolas. Matthew spoke to students on how important he felt it was to be recognised by his community and the importance of engagement within it. His lesson to students, through his practical experience, was that they shouldn’t worry about being pigeonholed into one direction of study and it is fine to change course to pursue your dreams. He urged them to seize and maximise the opportunities these high achievers will have.

The event was proud to recognise distinguished high achieving students for their academic and extracurricular successes, some of whom achieved results which placed them amongst the State of New South Wales’ highest achieving school students in 2024.

Once again, this event would not have been possible without the support of our generous sponsors: Blue Chip Projects, Buildform, Affinity Diamonds, Bletchley Park Capital, EG, Harkola, Growthbuild and the very talented Dominic Azzi.

Some photos of the evening are shown below and the full album can be found here.